Textvizz: a new way to improve your writing craft

Textvizz is a visual writing tool that can help you to learn and study writing more effectively

• students - learn writing techniques faster through patterns and practice

• experienced authors - discover techniques from your favourite writers, study style, refresh your creativity

• language learners - practice patterns at your own pace, following your own interests and specialisms

• teachers - create more effective, memorable writing lessons based on visual techniques

Ideal for: self-study, deliberate practice, bitesize learning, active reading, close reading, teaching, stylistics, writing feedback.

Text visualization - the art of visually presenting text to help reveal patterns in language.

Modern text analysis can reveal fascinating aspects of writers' language use. It solve mysteries, reveal changes, or simply highlight your favourite writer's style and habits.

It can also help with teaching and learning.

Research into colour and visuals suggests learning is far more effective when we engage dual modes in our brain.

Textvizz allows you to transform text with colour, revealing the hidden life below.

Textvizz was developed by writer and teacher Jules Horne (see below), as part of her Method Writing teaching site. Method Writing seeks to help bridge the gap between traditional writing teaching and the skills needs by today's multimodal writers.

What kinds of writing can it be used for?

Any kind of written text in the English language. Fiction, poetry, scripts, non-fiction, including business writing.

If you're a creative writer or student writer, study short excerpts to learn about writing style. It's a great tool for deliberate practice and faster, more focused improvement.

ELT and ESP students and teachers: you'll find it useful for themed language work in different subject areas.

What level of writer is it for?

Any level. Simple and advanced texts, any genre.

Choose language topics you're interested in - a thriller writer's verbs, a poet's use of adjectives, a company's use of nouns. You can also include your own bespoke word groups.

Does it use AI?

No. It uses a rules-based language engine. It also works locally to your device, so your texts are only stored on your own computer.

Why do we need to learn to write, now that we have AI?

AI-generated text is great for some things (summaries!). But it doesn't understand impact, persuasion or emotion. It doesn't understand the colour and detail that brings worlds and characters to life. It's based on a mishmash of vast amounts of earlier texts. So by design, it produces 'samey' over 'distinctive, bold, unique' every time.

Now, more than ever, we need insight into what words do - effects, impacts, techniques, even the hidden metaphors and politics of language. With Textvizz, you can explore what's going on below the surface of the written English language you read every day.

How does it work?

Simply paste in your text, and click the features you want to see. You can save examples in your own user area, screengrab and record examples, and share .vizz files with other Textvizz users. This makes it ideal for collaborating on educational materials, or with other writers.

Can I get a copy?

Not yet, sorry. Textvizz is a web application that runs locally on your computer. It's a working prototype already being used in teaching and learning. If you'd like to know more, please get in touch.